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BUSINESS PROFILE
LIFELOCK’S Marketing Product Fail
One of the biggest crime waves in the early and mid-2000s was identity theft. Criminals had worked their way ahead of law enforcement and essentially pioneered a completely new style of crime. In fact, they were so far ahead that the FBI had to create their Cyber Division in 2002. During this time, you couldn’t tune into anything without hearing about identity theft, and cybersecurity company LifeLock used this exposure to their advantage. That is, until their superhero marketing backfired in a spectacular way. In 2005, LifeLock, an identity theft company, opened to very little fanfare. By the end of 2006, they had managed to rack up about $100,000 in revenue. In 2006, LifeLock launched their most famous — and eventually infamous — marketing campaign. CEO Todd Davis threw his Social Security number on the front page of the company’s website in big bold numbers and plastered it on billboards across the United States. You may remember the commercial where Davis points to a mobile billboard and confirms that it’s his real Social Security number, saying, “No, I’m not crazy.” From a marketing standpoint, this campaign is nothing short of genius. We’ve all been taught from birth to protect our Social Security number, and, at that time in history, identity theft was an ongoing major news story. This issue was on people’s minds, so using a live demonstration as the advertising message was exceptional marketing. Although, can you imagine the head of marketing at the time having to come in and pitch that campaign to the CEO? Head of marketing: “So, we want you to publish your Social Security number on billboards and in print ads.” Davis: “Are you
crazy?” I can only imagine the head of marketing hearing that and being inspired to use the line “And no, I’m not crazy” in the campaign. You have to believe at some point, Davis would have asked, “Are you sure our product works?” Well, he was about to find out. The Good News The good news is that the marketing campaign was a huge success. LifeLock went from $100,000 in sales in 2006 to $131 million in sales in 2009. This was in large part thanks to the bold advertising campaign. I clearly remember these ads. They were everywhere, and I wasn’t surprised to see the huge growth in sales in such a short period of time. “ CEO TODD DAVIS THREW HIS SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER ON THE FRONT PAGE of the company’s website in big bold numbers and plastered it on billboards across the United States.” Despite the massive success of the campaign from a marketing standpoint, from a product standpoint, it was a huge fail. Davis’ identity has been stolen 13 times and counting since the launch of the original campaign. Maybe he was crazy after all!
Was It a Failure or a Success? From a product standpoint, this campaign was a failure, as the product didn’t live up to the hype. In fact, if you still have a LifeLock membership, you may want to cancel it. Personally, I use Zander Insurance, which covers the whole family for $120 per year. The FTC thought the product was a flop, as well. When the government started asking questions about the product’s viability, LifeLock was quick to settle for $12 million. Unfortunately, they forgot to read the settlement agreement, and ultimately, LifeLock paid another $100 million in fines to the government to settle its claims against the company. Eight months later, Davis resigned as CEO. From a marketing standpoint, this campaign was a massive success. It launched LifeLock as a company, allowing it to go public under the symbol LOCK until it was acquired by Symantec for $2.3 billion in late 2016. Davis may have had to deal with some identity theft, but, in the end, he became a very rich man. I’d guess that after getting his identity stolen 13 times, he did some research and found a product that actually works to protect his identity.
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